Play Pretend
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: Nothing's more confusing than knowing a person your whole life, only to realize they're actually a terrible person. Other than, like airplanes. Who really knows how those work? - One-shot.


"How do airp'anes work?"

"Mmmm," Paul hummed as he thought, rather deeply, at the question posed to him by his recently crowned six year old. "They're magic."

"Wow," his four year old said while her older sister only frowned.

"Na-ah," she said, shaking her head at him. "Magic's not real, Daddy. How do they really work?"

At the moment, Paul was sitting in the middle of his three daughter's playroom, where the majority of their toys resided and where most of his free time was spent. He had his littlest baby, Vaughn, was sitting in front of him at the moment, the pair stacking blocks atop one another until, inevitably, they would fall down and they'd have to start all over again. Then there was his middle daughter, Murphy, happily coloring as she sat on his left, coloring what she claimed to be their house, but mostly looked like rough squares and little stick people, while randomly requesting his expert opinion on her piece.

It was exquisite, he'd say, because she liked to hear him say that word.

It made her giggle.

"I dunno, Rora," he sighed as his six year old sat on his right, playing with the assortment of toys she'd gotten out.

When he was a little kid, Paul recalled his older sister being very serious about keeping all her toys separated. Barbies went with Barbies, toy cars belong in the box with toy cars, jungle animals belong with jungle animals, ect. And while he wasn't too big on this idea (his G.I. Joe's had no qualms about going into combat accompanied by superhero action figures), he thought that all little girls, who he saw as very ordered and serious, didn't intermingle their toys.

But Aurora did. All her toys came out to play at the same time. Stuffed animals, action figures, dolls, Legos; they all had some part of the story. At the moment, each time Paul and Vaughn would get their tower at least somewhat high (like, more than three blocks), Aurora would take one of the little airplanes that came with some toy set at some point (who knew what anymore) and fly it around the tower, making very loud plane noises in the process. Murphy would glare at her for this, but it always made Vaughn clap her hands and giggle.

"How do you not know? You fly on p'anes."

"Planes. Plane, baby."

"P'anes."

Sighing as, once more, Vaughn knocked over their tower, Paul said, "I guess they work, Rora, 'cause they got big engines that, like, spin around blades that make, like, wind come out that pushes them forwards. Or something."

This was far more acceptable an answer than some supernatural force and, content, Aurora went back to her play while Murphy requested his opinion on what she claimed was supposed to be Bluto and he was pretty certain was just a large oval with four lines coming out of it.

"How do trains work? Like a car?"

Busy gently taking a wooden block from Vaughn as she tried to nibble on the corner, Paul only nodded a bit. "Yeah, Rora. Somethin' like that."

"How 'bout hell-copters?"

"Like a plane, I guess," Paul said as Vaughn moaned his name in annoyance, reaching to take her block back. "But instead, the blades push air down and push the helicopter up. If that makes sense."

As much sense as anything else.

"Daddy, more paper!"

He frowned as Murphy shoved her current one at him, apparently finished, and wanting more. Instead of granting this though, he only flipped the page over and told her to just draw on that. This could either have caused tears, as if she drew on the back, he couldn't hang up both pieces on the fridge at once and she'd realize he didn't want her drawing, or sometimes she'd just lay back on her belly once more and continue coloring.

Lucky him, she only snatched the paper and followed the later.

"Have you ever flown a...plane, Daddy?"

"Rora, why are you so inquisitive tonight? Huh?"

"I's just wonderin'."

"I can drive a car. And a motorcycle. Four-wheeler. But a plane? No." Paul, tired of blocks, moved to drag his toddler into his lap, Vaughn losing her whines over lack of something to chew on and instead snuggling right up to his chest. "Can you drive a plane?"

"No!" This got her to giggle at him, absurdity always her favorite form of comedy. "I don't!"

"You sure?"

"Yes!"

"If I need someone to fly the plane, I can't count on you?"

"No!"

"Never? What did you learn in kindergarten last year if it wasn't how to pilot a plane? Huh? That's the whole reason I sent ya there."

"Daddy."

"What- Vaughn, I can talk to Rora."

No, he couldn't. Reaching up to pat at his mouth, she only said, "Shhh."

"Can't shush your father," he grumbled as he turned his head from her, trying to keep away from her hand. "That's bad."

"Shhh! Daddy."

"You spend too much time around Stephanie," he remarked as, that time, he only bowed his head so that he could nuzzle it against her forehead. "You know that? Shushing me. No respect."

"Gotta be 'spectful," his middle daughter remarked as she continued drawing, hardly glancing up at she spoke. "To Daddy, Vaughn. Else he'll 'line you."

"Line?" he repeated. "What's that mean?"

"'line, Daddy."

"What's that?"

Sitting up on her knees, Murphy held out one arm and shot it forwards, forearm hitting Paul's arm as she turned a bit to purposely do something.

"You did it on TV," Murphy said, looking to her older sister then for confirmation. Aurora, very busy rolling around a toy car, did glance up and nod her head.

"Yeah, Daddy. On the TV."

"Clothesline? Last week?" Paul nodded a bit, understanding them finally. Then, suddenly, he frowned. "And hey, I don't just go around doing that to people that don't respect me."

"Do too." Murphy fell back on her stomach then, to get back to her coloring. "'cause you're mean."

"How am I mean?"

"You're very mean," Aurora agreed, glancing over at him. "I've seen before. You hit people when they don't hit you first. That's not nice."

"You're _bad_ ," Murphy whispered, shaking her head a bit. "Very bad."

"I only hit people that deserve it."

"Na-ah." Aurora shook her head. "That's not how it works."

"Yeah," Murphy agreed with a nod.

Paul only frowned, glancing down at his baby in his lap before asking, "You think Daddy's bad too, baby? Huh?"

Tilting her head back to stare at him, she only said, "Shhh, Daddy."

"This is what I get, huh? For filling my house with women? No appreciation. I'll have you know that Daddy pays for all your little toys, Rora, and paper, Murph, by being bad." Then he kissed Vaughn's head. "And your blocks, baby."

"Still mean."

"And you still hit people."

"Shhh, Daddy."

Sigh.

Paul could see then, through the window, the lights of his wife's car as she drove onto the property, but his daughters either weren't perceptive enough to realize this or were so focused on annoying him that they didn't care their mother was home, because they only continued to inform him of all his misgivings.

"We watched you, Daddy," Murphy told him with a frown. "And you were bad."

"People don't like you, Daddy," his oldest said as she rolled the car into his leg. "I dunno if I even like you."

"You like me. You love me. You don't like Hunter."

"Mmmm… No. It's you."

"Rora-"

"I like you here," Murphy decided with a nod. "You're borin' on TV. Talk too much."

"I'm building a story line, you big meanie."

"You're meanie!"

"I'm not the one hurting someone else's feelings."

"Maybe you shouldn't be mean to everyone else," Aurora suggested. "And hit 'em."

"Okay, I clothesline a few people now and then-"

"You hit people with hammers! Before Christmas!" Rora's memory, it seemed, was better than that of her sister's. "That's very bad."

"I can't control what Triple H does. He's a completely different person."

Murphy, not understanding, sat back in shock. "Really? I thought you were Trip...Trip...Trip-"

"I am. But I'm not in control of him."

"You don't make sense, Daddy," his oldest told him. "I think you're just sayin' that so you don't get in trouble!"

"Don't make accusations you can't back up, squirt. Before I gotta clohesline ya."

"I knew it," both Murphy and Aurora yelled, now equally convinced that they'd caught their father in a lie.

Paul heard the sound of the garage door opening and close, but still, his girls didn't rush off to greet their mother. Which was probably for the best. Since they were upstairs, they'd have to rush down the staircase to get to her and he always had this heavy feeling in his stomach, about one of them tumbling down them in a hurry and hurting themselves.

Either that or forgetting about the baby gate they had up on the staircase and trip over it.

Paul worried a lot, about his three little girls, even though, while they could be quite rambunctious at times, they certainly weren't overly wild. He just didn't like to see them get hurt was all.

He was kind of a softy, when it came to them.

Bluto started barking though as he no doubt followed Steph into the garage. Paul always let him out, about an hour before Steph got home, to patrol the gated property (read wait on Steph right by the front gate, quite anxiously at times) because the dog seemed to like to greet her car right there. You know, so he could bark at it and race it back up the driveway.

He hated that stupid car.

Just not the driver.

"Are you guys all upstairs?" he heard called up as well as some more of Bluto's barks. "Paul?"

"We're in the playroom," he volleyed back as the girls both jumped up, rushing to fling open the door, both bouncing a bit as they waited for their mother to make it to them.

Cheering when she did, Steph about got pummeled as she tried to get in the room by the pair, Vaughn starting up her whines from her father's lap, wanting a chance to get at her mother too. But Paul wouldn't let her go as Bluto bound into the room too, not wanting his still rather unstable on her feet not quite two year old to be knocked over.

Stephanie's laugh was tired, but still present as Paul watched her bend over to kiss and hug each of the girls.

"What were you girls doing up here? Huh? Bothering Daddy?"

"No."

"Yes," Paul grumbled over their claim. "They're picking on me."

"How?" Turning around to glare at him with her hands on her hips, Aurora looked far too much like Steph for Paul in that moment. "You're the one being mean."

"I am not. I've been a great father this whole day. Your whole life, even. Ungrateful."

"Paul, quit teasing," Steph sighed as, after patting both Murphy and Aurora on the head, she came over to snatch up Vaughn finally. When she bent down to pick the girl up, Paul tilted his head back at the right moment so that he could get a quick peck from the woman. The best he could hope for, honestly, in those days. "You big bully."

"That's what we were tellin' him," Aurora informed her mother as she went to go sit back at her toys once more. "That he's mean."

"What did Daddy do?"

"He hits people," Murphy told her as she came to stand before the man, glaring at him as he sat there on the floor, glaring right back. "Don't feel bad 'bout it."

"He doesn't?"

"They're talking about the stupid show," Paul grumbled as he felt his wife's curious eyes. "And if anything, they're the bullies. Daddy does every thing in this house and how do we repay him? Huh? By insulting the way that he pays to be able to do everything for them. No respect."

Unfazed, Aurora only said, "He lies too! He said that he wasn't Triple H."

"That's not what I meant."

"You're losing standing in the house, Paul," Steph said with a giggle as she left the room, Vaughn snuggled up in her arms and Bluto, after a quick lick at Paul's face (which got him shoved away) following after. "And the fact that I brought home dinner will be the final nail in the coffin. You hear me girls? It's time for dinner. That Daddy didn't get."

"You stop teasing now, Steph," Paul grumbled as he had to reach out and grab Murphy's hand, forcing her not to take off at her mother (or, honestly, to go get her food). "You and Rora have to clean up, squirt."

"Or you gonna 'line me?"

"I'm thinkin' 'bout it. Now clean up." Letting her go, Paul shifted to his knees, bending down to gather up some of the toys scattered about as well. "I'll help."

That kept them from scolding him on his in—ring habits. For a bit, anyways. And, after making a big deal of washing his hands and showing them that they should too (though, honestly, who really washes their hands before eating other than children being made to; Steph always insisted everyone, but he wasn't too sure), he led the girls safely down the stairs and to the kitchen table, where Vaughn was quite happily playing in the plate Steph had already given her, the woman herself still setting the rest of the table.

"Mommy, can Daddy 'line us when he's mad?"

"What? Murphy?"

"You sit down, you little brat." Paul only snatched her up and went to drop her in her chair. "Always causing problems. Why even bring that back up?"

Because she knew that he wouldn't want her to.

Duh.

"Wan' juice!" Suddenly, Vaughn was distracted from her eatiing (playng) as, when she moved to grab her sippy cup and take a swig from it, she found water. Nasty. "Mommy! Juice!"

While both her sisters made a face at the child, annoyed by the shrillness of her complaints (Vaughn was, by far, the loudest of all their daughters), Stephanie only glanced over her shoulder with a soft grin.

"It's dinner time, baby. You know you don't get juice with dinner. It's almost time for bed. No juice."

"Yes!"

"Vaughn, no."

Which was not the right move if they wanted a peaceful dinner.

"Vaughn scared Bluto away," Aurora complained as, at the sound of the girl's cries, the dog left the room, off to find somewhere much more quite to snooze.

Besides, Paul was home; the man wouldn't let the kids sneak the mutt their scraps throughout dinner and, well, without an incentive, he had no reason to hang around.

"She's too loud," Murphy agreed as Paul only made a face at his wife, taking his seat at the table.

"Steph-"

"She's not getting juice."

"Just this once?"

"No. She can throw her fit. She's not getting any."

Oh, she was going to throw her fit. And her sippy cup. But to no avail, unfortunately, as Steph had always been rather harsh about this specific rule.

"Maybe Daddy should 'line her," Murphy suggested quite excitedly as Steph made their plates from the takeout she'd brought home. "Daddy, can you?"

"Yeah." Suddenly, Aurora wasn't so against a little corporal punishment. "Make her quiet."

"Knock it off," he told them both with frowns though he did get to his feet to go pat his baby on her head. This did nothing to calm her though, now instead of screaming for her mother to get her some dang juice, she only held her arms out, opening and closing her tiny hands while begging her father to pick her up.

"Steph, can I-"

"Do what you want. But she can't have juice."

Lifting her into his arms, Paul went to take his seat once more, waiting on his wife to finish serving the girls so that he could get his own food. He'd voiced the complaint, before, that traditionally, the man should be served first, before his wife or kids. Which got him a stink eye from his wife and questions of why from his girls and he kinda just dropped it, because he figured he should just be glad to get to eat dinner with them so often.

Vaughn didn't settle immediately, but she did bury her head in his chest, finding some comfort there, and that at least muffled her cries.

She was definitely snotting all over his shirt though…

For a good minute or so, the room was much quieter, Murphy and Aurora investigating what seemed like far too many vegetables on their plates and Steph got herself and her husband something to drink.

"What is this water stuff, Steph? I want-"

"If you say that word and get her started up again, you'll be eating outside."

"Like an animal?"

"Considering my animal eats indoors, no. Much worse."

Paul only beamed at his wife though, as she found her seat at the table finally. "I didn't see you at the office today, baby."

"Awe, did you look for me?"

"No."

"Paul-"

"You asked."

"Not for the truth."

"Daddy's mean, Mommy." Murphy wasn't too preoccupied debating how much of her veggies she could get away with not eating, apparently, to get back to the topic at hand. "At work. When he's Trip...Trip-"

"Why is the word triple so hard for you, baby?" Steph giggled as the little girl only frowned, annoyed at herself. "And Daddy's not Triple H at work."

"He's not him at all, he said," Aurora accused, making a face over at her father, middle sister nodding in agreement.

"Paul, you got home, like, two hours before me," Steph said with _that_ look over at them. "What did you do during that time?"

"I went over this before. I was nothing, but an upstanding father-"

"He's bad," Murphy said as she mostly shoved her food around her plate, hoping this would make it disappear. It wouldn't. "On TV."

"Oh, is that what has them so upset? Daddy is kind of a jerk on TV."

"Stephanie."

"You are."

"And you're not?"

"We're not talking about me."

"Uh-huh."

"He said he'd 'line us," their youngest daughter went on, fearing that Steph hadn't quite grasped this the last time she tried to tattle on him. "Mommy."

"Line you?"

"You know, give 'em the old clothesline." Keeping one hand on his baby, who was still snuggling up to him, more in fun than distress now, Paul held his arm out stiffly. "Knock some of this mouthing off out. Or knock them out."

"How often are you threatening our children with violence?"

"Just today," he said with a bit of a shrug. "They deserve it. What was it you said, Murph? That when people disrespect them, I beat 'em up? Welp, I'm feeling pretty disrespected, little girl."

Making a face more from the taste of whatever that weird yellow vegetable had been that she ate a piece of, the very recent four year old swallowed with a grimace before saying, "Not scared of you, Daddy."

"You better be."

"Nope." Clenching one of her fists up, she swiped at the air above her plate. "Knock ya out!"

"Steph, you see this?" Paul looked to his wife. "She's gonna hit me with a closed fist. Isn't there rules against this? How lax are the regulations around here?"

"I saw nothing."

"This pure disrespect. You seein' this, Rora? Huh? You gonna just let her beat up on me?" Paul looked to his oldest. "After everything we've been through together?"

"Mmmm," Aurora hummed for a moment, glancing at her father to her younger sister before answering. "You're the one pickin' on Murphy though. And you're lots bigger than her."

"Yeah, but I'm still me, aren't I? You gotta root for me regardless. 'cause I'm your daddy."

He made very good points.

Then again, the man typically did. He was the one that convinced the girls to do all the stuff they didn't want to. From brushing teeth to looking both ways before crossing the street, the man just had a great way of explaining why it was best to go ahead and do things his way.

And his way was always the right way.

Always.

"I'd root for you, Daddy."

"Thank you. See, this is the sort of respect a man deserves around here." Getting to his feet, Paul went to gently drop Vaughn back in her booster chair as well as hand her the sippy cup. This time, for some reason, when she took a swig, the fact that water was in there hardly seemed concerning to her.

"Daddy, more water!" Murphy held up her cup then, staring over at him. When he frowned back, she giggled and added, "P'ease?"

"Of course." Going over to her, he picked up both her and Aurora's cups. "Princess."

Steph was done, it seemed, with talk of him as she began prodding the older girls into telling her what they'd done that day (it was summer; literally the same thing they did every day). Aurora had a lot to tell her it seemed, however, detailing everything down to naptime and how she was too old for that, she felt, while Murphy only sat and waited for her water.

Or at least Paul thought she was waiting for her water. He brought his oldest hers first, her stopping her story to tell him thanks without prompting and giggle from the kiss to the head that she got in return. When he moved to set Murphy's down in front of her though and give her a kiss as well, he found out that she hadn't just been waiting for her drink.

No. She was waiting for him to get close enough so that she could reach up and sock him one good in the jaw.

Now, he'd be shocked if his daughter even weighed more than thirty-five pounds, so she definitely wasn't punching him with much at all. Still, it surprised him a bit that she hit him and, taking a step back, for a moment Paul could only frown.

"Murphy, why did you do that?" Stephanie, however, more than just frowned. "You know better. Why did you hit Daddy? He was just giving you your water."

She only continued to glare up at him though. "I win!"

"I wasn't really gonna hit you," Paul grumbled to her. "And you shouldn't really hit people either."

"You do." Content, Murphy reached out for her cup, but Paul only moved to shove it out of her reach. "Daddy-"

"No, that was bad."

"Na-ah." She even shook her head. "I hit you. That's okay."

"Why is that okay?"

"You hit. I hit. It's okay."

"You hit me again and you're going into timeout."

"Wha'?" Confused by this, she stared up at the man who only nodded. "No!"

"Yes."

"N-"

"Paul," Steph intervened. "This is your fault. You have them all confused."

"How?" he asked with a frown over at her. "I haven't done anything."

"Murphy, sweetie," her mother said, getting the little girl to stop aimlessly reaching for her glass and look at her. "Daddy doesn't really hit people."

"Yes. Seen him. And he say so."

"I said so," Paul corrected.

Nodding, Murphy reiterate, "He say so."

"No, I meant-"

"He was just being funny, silly," Steph told her with a grin of understanding. "Sometimes Daddy doesn't realize how confused he can get you. You don't really think he'd ever hit you, do you? Because he wouldn't, would you, Daddy?"

"Of course not." Scratching at his jaw, he said, "But you gotta learn the follow through, kid, you gonna come at me."

"Paul-"

"I play someone, Murph," he said, leaning down again, that time being rewarded with just thoughtful stares from his middle daughter, "on TV. That's what I meant about me not being Triple H. I play him. He's not real."

"Awe." Steph couldn't help it; she giggled. "Paul, you sounded so heartbroken to admit that."

"Did not."

"Hunter's real in your heart, Paul, and that's all that matters."

"This is the exact type of teasing that I was talking about," he grumbled as, with his head still so close to his, Murphy reached out to gently tap at the man's face.

"Won't 'line me?" she asked. "Ever?"

"Of course not, baby. Never ever."

"What if we don't 'spect you?"

"Well-"

"Is that what you told them?" Stephanie asked. "That you only hit people that disrespect you?"

"Hunter feels very disrespected, yes, a good amount of the time." He moved to hand Murphy her cup then, who took it happily. "Or when you're disrespected, Steph."

"But only on the show," she insisted to their daughters who, honestly, were both very much so over the conversation. "Okay? Daddy wouldn't really hit someone in real life if they were mean to him. Triple H only does it-"

"But he does it to all sorts of people!" Aurora could be quiet no longer. Perhaps the lack of respect thing flew with Murphy, but she didn't buy it for a second. "Even when they aren't mean to him."

"Disrespect isn't about being mean, Rora." Paul patted her on the head before going to take his seat again. There was a time when nothing could interrupt the man from enjoying a good meal (or even a lousy one), but his daughters seemed to be pretty talented at it. "It's just a...vibe you get from people. That's all. And if when I- When Hunter feels disrespected, even if it's real or not real, he reacts."

"In the wrong way," Stephanie added. "He acts in a way that a normal person never ever would."

"How come?" Murphy asked after she finished taking big gulps of her water. Setting the glass down, she also said, "Daddy, I need more! P'ease?"

As he held down grumbles and went to get her yet another glass of water (as well as stop by Vaughn's chair to get her to at least taste some of her food, rather than just play with it), Stephanie answered Murphy's original question.

"Because Daddy's not a… Triple H isn't a good guy, baby."

"What?" She dropped her jaw, making a face at his back as he was busy refilling her glass. Still, the man glanced over his shoulder from the sink to mimic the face back at her. "You're not?"

"I'm a very good guy," he said as he came to place the cup back down, patting Murphy on the head while he was at it. "But that Triple H guy?" He ticked his tongue. "Hunter is a real di- Jerk." He had to grin as his wife glared at him. "He's a real jerk."

"Mommy, you too?" Aurora asked with a bit of a frown. It had been, honestly, one of the first times the girls could really remember their mother on TV, only a week or so ago, when she slapped Heyman and both she and her sister were mostly just in awe of getting to see the woman. "You're a jerk?"

"Don't say jerk."

"What can they say?" Paul complained. Can't say dick, can't say jerk; he was raising the most sheltered kids ever. "Steph?"

"Bad guys," she told the girls. "We're the villains."

"But why?" Murphy didn't like this as, after taking another huge gulp of water (she wanted to try to down it all again, just to make her father get up and get her some more, but she wasn't able to stomach it). "Don't you wanna be nice?"

"It's not that easy, baby," Steph told her with a slight smile. "Everyone would wanna be good, if they got the choice."

"Not me." Paul patted his chest as, after wiping Vaughn's face a bit (she was making a huge mess), he looked at Aurora and Murphy. "I like it. It's like when you play pretend, Murph. You don't pretend to be you, do you?"

"Yes."

"I don't think you understand the question."

"No, you don't."

"No, you don't."

"No-"

" _Anyways_ ," Steph said over them as Murphy wagged her fist at her father again and he sent her a glare. "Aurora, Daddy wouldn't really hit someone because he thought that they weren't respecting him. That's the point."

"I'd be in fights all the time if that were the case," he assured his girls. "While it might be a shock to you girls, considering I'm by far the most popular in this household-"

"I'm sorry, but by who, exactly?" Steph asked. "You're not even the most well-liked boy."

That got her a frown. "I'm the only...boy."

"Na-ah, Daddy." Aurora shook her head. "Bluto's a boy."

"He doesn't count."

"Bluto boy," Murphy agreed with a nod of her head. "I like him best."

" _My point was_ that outside of here, I'm not always the most liked guy around." Patting Vaughn on the head then, Paul added, "But I just don't go around slugging people."

"You don't 'line 'em?"

"Nope, Murph." Going back to his chair once more, he said, "I don't."

"I like Trip… Trip… I like him better."

"You do not."

"Do to."

"Do not."

"Do-"

"Paul, eat your dinner." Steph, finished with hers, got up to take over on baby duty. "And you too, girls. It's getting late."

Stephanie hadn't seen the girls the entire day, so after dinner, she was more than happy to handle all the before bed stuff alone. Err, well, she started out happy, he was sure, but probably didn't stay that way.

He didn't know. She told him to go walk Bluto, that the dog seemed like he needed an extra one that night. Steph was always so in sync with her mutt that he tended to listen to her on these matters.

They got back home just in time for Bluto to go on a barking spree and wake the for once easy to put down Vaughn and get banished outside.

Guess he wasn't the favorite boy in the house after all…

"Vaughn's loud," Murphy griped as Paul went to tuck her in, Steph walking around the house with the sobbing baby, trying to get her calmed down once more. "Can't enjoy my story!"

Paul, who was leaning over her bed, staring down at the book she held open in her lap, frowned. "Enjoy? You can say enjoy, but you can't say Triple H?"

Tapping at the book, Murphy ordered, "Finish readin'!"

"Thought you can't enjoy it?"

"Daddy-"

Bending down completely then, so he was on his knees by her bed (he didn't fit in the girl's beds; sue him. Exact reason he always told Steph she should be the one to do stories, no matter the night…), he tugged the book a bit closer before beginning again.

When he about got her all drifted off, Paul tucked her favorite beat up old stuffed animal under his middle daughter's arm before brushing back her hair and pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Daddy, stop," she mumbled, eyes already shut, nearly sleeping. "Nasty."

"You're nasty."

"No."

"Yes." When she didn't respond, he only grinned, still leaning over her, and whispered, "Hey, Murph, you really like Triple H more than me?"

"No." Reaching out blindly, she almost poked him in the eye, but managed to only pat at his face as, with a yawn, she said, "Love you."

"But Hunter's still the best wrestler ever, huh?" She was too tired to answer. As always, Paul had a remedy for everything. "Say nothing in you agree." With one more kiss, he only whispered, "Perfect," before getting to his feet.

Aurora was almost asleep when he got to her room and she more than let him have this for that.

"You took too long, Daddy."

Yep. One sentence was all she needed.

"I'm sorry, princess. I'm just in high demand, huh?"

Snuggled up in bed already, Aurora did sit up as he handed a book to her from her tiny shelf of them, yawning the entire time she read to him, stumbling over many words as she was so sleepy. And, when she started to drift off mid sentence, Paul only congratulated her softly on being such a big girl, reading so well and all, before gently taking the book back and laying her down once more.

"G'night, baby." Patting her on the head before running his hand down to her cheek, Paul said, "I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

When his hand fell from her cheek though, Aurora grabbed onto it in one of her much smaller hand, staring up into his eyes.

"Daddy?"

"What?"

"Is it bad to like bad guys?"

Grinning then, he shook his head a bit before gently removing his hand from hers so that he could pat her cheek again. "Of course not. And especially not if it's me. I'm a greet person to root for. I'm a king, Rora. And the rest of them are just pawns. It's stupid to root for the pawn. They might win the battle, but they never win the war. And you wanna root for winners, huh? Everyone does. They-"

"Daddy, you're talking too much again."

"You'll appreciate it one day." He bent down to kiss her cheek that time. "Trust me. Asking for pointers."

"Why would I wanna be borin'?"

"Go to sleep." Making a face that time, he pulled her blanket up around her better before saying, "I'll see you in the morning. I love you."

"Love you too."

The house was much more silent when he left his oldest in her bedroom to find his youngest and wife. He actually stumbled upon the somehow already back inside Bluto who'd been rewarded for barking at nothing by getting that huge bone Steph had been saving for a special occasion.

Yes, the dog had special occasions in his life.

His wife was just very emotionally attached to the animal. It's not that big of a deal.

Bluto eyed his father suspiciously as he came into the den, as if fearful the man would try to snag his precious bone. As if that had ever happened. Stepping over him instead, Paul only continued his search for his wife.

He found her in her home office, at her desk, Vaughn sleeping in her lap as she stared at something on her computer.

"Here," he whispered as he came over to take the baby, Steph easily giving her up. "I'll put her to bed."

"Wake her again," Steph warned as she leaned even further up, to press a kiss to his cheek, before sitting once more in her chair, "and you'll be the one to get her back to sleep."

"Again? I didn't the first time. Bluto-"

"If you'd walked him adequately-"

"You know, Steph-"

"Don't wake the baby, Paul."

He did a little bit, honestly, when he finally made it to Vaughn's bedroom. He was just about to put her in her crib when suddenly, her arms came to wrap around his neck and she whined a bit.

"You don't want down?" he whispered softly as, though she didn't open her eyes, she still held to him. "You want me to hold you for a little bit? Huh? Or you just mad that Daddy still hasn't getting you your big girl bed yet?"

Probably a mixture.

It only took a few minutes though, of walking around her room and humming softly (Vaughn really loved to hear him hum; he figured it was the vibration through his chest when he was holding her that calmed her so much), before he was able to lay her down, praying softly she'd sleep through the night.

That all three of them did.

And that Bluto didn't start up that barking shit again.

Because he loved his girls (and overpriced mutt), but some silence was always appreciated.

Err, well, some loud banging music was appreciated as, after heading back downstairs, he stopped at Steph's office door to inform her he was going down to their basement gym for awhile.

"'kay," she said, not even glancing up at him as he stood in the doorway. Typing now, she stared at her monitor as she asked, "Did you need me to spot you or-"

"Nah, baby, you're fine. Just listen for the girls, huh? And I'll be in bed soon."

She wouldn't though. He could tell by the look on her face and the later it was getting in the evening that what she was dealing with was either extremely work related or some stupid personal shit with one of her friends.

Both things he did not wanna get roped into.

"Uh, babe, one thing though?"

He was about to shut the door and stopped at that. "Hmmm?"

She paused her typing just to look over at him with that silly grin of hers, already cutting up from her own joke that still only existed in her head.

His woman was something else.

Motioning him forward with a single finger, Paul slowly walked into the room, coming over to her desk.

"We were talking disrespect before, right? At dinner?"

With a nod, Paul rested his palms against her desk, eyes on her vibrant blues. "What about it?"

"I personally found you to be very disrespectful," Stephanie said as she stared up t him. "Paul."

"Really now," he remarked dryly, still studying her.

"Mmmhmm."

"When would that have been?"

"Remember when our precious little four year old punched you in the face?"

"Quite vividly."

"Yeah, you didn't sell that at all." Shaking her head at him a bit, she said, "I don't know what shitty promotion you think you're involved with, but here, me and my daddy don't take to people like you underselling our major stars. Especially not McMahons, so-"

"You think you're cute," he remarked, still giving her a deal stare. "Don't you, Steph?"

"I think I'm pretty close to firing your ass, Hunter."

Hands still pressed against the her wooden desk, Paul leaned forwards so that he could brush his lips against her then bowed forehead. Against it, he whispered, "There ain't ever been a McMahon that's ever even been considered a star, much less a major one-"

"Me and my brother held titles."

"Unfortunate, ain't it?"

"Go work out, Paul." She shoved him away then, turning back to her computer. "You big idiot."

Still grinning as he watched her pretend to be disinterested in him, he only said, "I took a poll with the girls, just so you know, and I'm definitely more over than Bluto."

"Oh, whatever."

"It's true." Kind of. "You're the last hold out. What else is new? Even Bluto likes me more than he likes himself."

"But he likes his mommy even more."

"Well, that's just not fair." Titling his head to the side, he stared heavily at her, trying to get her eyes, but the woman refusing. "I like his mommy more than I like me too."

Biting her lip quite heavily to keep from grinning, Steph could do nothing about her slight blush as she ignored him for a moment before saying, "Go away, Paul."

Victorious then (in, honestly, the easiest of all his daily tasks; getting Steph to smile), Paul shoved away from the desk to go get change into something a bit more appropriate. Before he went though, he did call over his shoulder, "That's harsh talk towards the most knowledgeable person in the house."

"Come again?"

"Ask my girls. I know all sorts of things. How planes work. How helicopters work. How to say both plane and helicopter."

"How do they work, Paul?"

"Maybe if you were home sometimes, absentee mother-"

"I'm about to throw something at you."

"I'll be downstairs, baby." This time, when he stopped at the door, he hardly paused as he slowly shut it behind himself. "You know, getting prepped to be a real mean guy. A real bad guy. A jerk, even, if we were allowed to say that word."

"A dick," Steph agreed. "If we could say that one."

"I can say it. Dick, dick, d- Hey!" He grumbled as only shutting the door quickly saved him from being hit by a flying pencil. "You could poke someone's eye out, you know."

"I warned you," he heard taunted from the other side as, mostly, he was just glad their loudness hadn't awaken any of his daughters (or got the dog to come investigate). "And you sound a lot more like Daddy there, Paul, than you do Hunter."

"Yeah, well," he grumbled as, heading on then, back to his room to find some workout shit to put on, he could only agree with her statement, "it's what I'd rather be, anyways."

* * *

 **This was another request one, about how Steph's mentioned before how she and Paul had to explain to their kids why they plan bad guys on TV. They probably actually did it, if you really think about it, during the Authority run, which if wikipedia is to be believed, happened about a year following when this took place (this was based around Trips Summer Slam '12 match with Lesnar, Authority formed at the end of the next summer), but I stopped watching not soon after Edge retired, so maybe I'm just fucked on the timelines. I figure though since they were so prominent during the Authority run that it was probably then their kids realized how dick-ish their parents were on TV, but I was under the impression this was the start of the Authority run...until I checked wiki, so…**

 **We're down to only about seven or eight requests left and I wanna knock the rest out real soon, so if you guys got something to request, just let me know.**


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